In the deployment of a graft or stent graft into the human or animal body via intraluminal techniques a deployment device is used to introduce the graft and, after the graft has been deployed and expanded within the lumen, the introducer needs to be retracted.
One form of introducer uses a distally facing capsule to encompass an exposed stent of a stent graft during introduction and after the stent graft has been released and the capsule has been removed from the exposed stent, the capsule along with the introducer must withdrawn. The capsule, however, has a distally facing opening and edge and this can engage with stents of the just introduced stent graft and cause problems with dislodging the stent graft from its position on the wall of the lumen. Similarly, an introducer often has a sheath which is used to constrain a stent or stent graft during delivery and is withdrawn from the stent or stent graft to release the stent or stent graft. This sheath has a proximally facing opening and edge and if the sheath is advanced to meet the nose cone then that edge may engage with stents of the just introduced stent graft and cause problems with dislodging the stent graft from its position on the wall of the lumen.
It is the object of this invention to provide an arrangement by which the nose cone can be retracted to the sheath so that introducer as a whole can be retracted without causing such problems.
Throughout this specification the term distal with respect to a portion of the aorta, a deployment device or a prosthesis means the end of the aorta, deployment device or prosthesis further away in the direction of blood flow away from the heart and the term proximal means the portion of the aorta, deployment device or end of the prosthesis nearer to the heart. When applied to other vessels similar terms such as caudal and cranial should be understood.